1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to an accessory mounting device with a hydraulic locking assembly. More particularly, this invention pertains to a device for attaching a boat accessory, such as a light, speaker, rack, or mirror, to a rail or other member of a boat or other vessel. The attaching device has a ball joint that is locked in place with a hydraulic locking assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Marine vessels require various accessories in order to serve the needs of the vessel operators. For example, sport boats, which are one type of marine vessel, are often used to tow water skiers and/or wakeboarders. These boats require a mirror to allow the operator to view the person being towed while operating the boat. It is also often desired to outfit these boats with speakers, lights, and racks for carrying various items such as wakeboards, skis, and personal floatation devices. These accessories are attached to the boat and often require positional adjustment.
A boat operates in a marine environment and is subject to salt and/or fresh water. The external accessories are also exposed to sun, rain, wind, and other outdoor environmental conditions. Accordingly, the accessories and their attachment to the boat must be suitable for an outdoor marine environment and be able to withstand the rigors of outdoor exposure. Minimizing the number of moving parts is advantageous for devices exposed to extreme environments, such as that found on or near boats.
Additionally, boats are subject to vibration. Many sport boats are small with a large internal combustion engine. Not only is the boat, and its accessories, exposed to the vibration from the engine as it runs at various speeds and power levels, but the boat is also subject to vibration, shocks, and impacts as it moves through and/or over the water at various speeds. These loads require that the accessories be mounted in a manner that provides sufficient support to withstand the dynamic loads the accessories are subject to during use of the boat. Because of the mass and weight of some boat accessories, accessory mounts need to have the strength to withstand the dynamic loads during boat operation.
It is known to attach accessories to boats by using mechanical clamps with fasteners to secure the accessory to the boat. Oftentimes, to achieve the necessary strength and rigidity of the attachment, tools are required to loosen the clamp in order to move the accessory to a desired position. Unfortunately, when working with fasteners and tools, the fasteners and/or tools are often dropped. On a boat, which is normally floating on water, dropping a fastener or tool results in a loss of that fastener or tool if it ends up in the water. Accordingly, there are advantages to attaching an accessory to a boat without requiring tools and without having any loose parts. It is desirable for the attaching device to be self-contained and be hand operated to achieve positional adjustment of the accessory.
Various jointed stands are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,538, titled “Jointed stand for dial gages,” discloses a pair of lockable balls at opposite ends of a swiveling arm assembly. A knob in the arm assembly actuates a mechanical linkage assembly that locks each ball in a clamp. U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,435, titled “Jointed stand,” discloses a variation of the device disclosed in the '538 patent. This patent uses mechanical means to lock the ball heads.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,130, titled “Hydraulically operated tripod head,” discloses a camera tripod head with a head body and a hydraulic mechanism. A compression spring 33 forces a ball rest member 23 against the ball 13 so that the ball 13 is clamped in position. Operating the hydraulic plunger 27 to increase the hydraulic pressure lifts the cylinder block 24 and compresses the compression spring 33, thereby not subjecting the ball rest member 23 to the force of the spring 33 and allow the ball 13 to move freely.
Other articulated support devices are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,273, titled “Releasable lockable re-positionable arm-like support apparatus,” requires a pressurized reservoir 28 to supply hydraulic force to lock the support in position. U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,323, titled “Spherical locking device,” discloses a manually operated pump assembly 30 to provide the hydraulic force to lock the ball 11 in place. Many of the prior art devices do not exhibit sufficient strength to support heavy marine accessories and/or are not self-contained.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,413, titled “Boat tower hinge and footer assembly,” discloses an accessory (a boat tower 114) that is hingedly attached to a boat 102. The tower 114 has a releasable connection 118 at one end and a hinge 110 at the other. Also, one end of the tower 114 is supported by a footer 122, 124, 126. This patent illustrates one type of accessory and its support and attachment mechanisms.